The Trouble with Babysitting
by Kaeru Soyokaze
Summary: Himeno's the Pretear, sure. But she's also a babysitter. What happens when her charges get mixed up in her saving the world gig? Chaos...pure CHAOS. Pray for the Knights. Chapter 4 UP!
1. Kouri Meets the Leafe Knights

For once in her life, so as to scare even more people, Kia has decided to do a Pretear fic! Okay, it's more of a prequel, but that'll be explained in time. Basically, this is the adventures of three children that Himeno baby-sits--especially the ten-year-old, Kouri. Feel pain for Kei, go "Awww" at Goh, sympathize for Hayate and pray for Mannen. And, without further ado, I present…DOOM! 

I do not own anyone in this series. I only own Gin-chan, Kouri, Okesa, Kenjiro, and Samui. And stuff. And this is dedicated to Chelsie. Just so long as you keep You-Know-Who uncorrupted. And heeeeere we go!

Oh, yeah. This chapter takes place between episode 8 and 9 in the anime…assuming that a few days pass. So basically, Himeno doesn't know about Takako yet.

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"Himeno-neechan!"

"Himeno-oneechan!"

"Himeno-chan!"

Awayuki Himeno blinked, swiveling around to see the three youngest Leafe Knights screech to a halt. All three were panting hard, hands planted on their knees as they peered up at her. It was an unusually chill and cloudy day, but they seemed to have warmed themselves up quite nicely.

"Mannen, Hajime-chan, Shin-chan, what are you doing here?" The pink-haired Pretear inquired, taking in their faces, reddened from exertion.

"We're…supposed to…guard you…remember?" Mannen wheezed. "So…Saihi doesn't get you."

"I'm just going to baby-sit at the Awaremi house!" Himeno protested, although her rose-hued eyes darkened with a trace of sadness at the mention of the one who sought her life.

"We'll go, too!" Hajime cheered. "Then nothing will happen to you!"

The girl struggled for words to dissuade them, but upon seeing the set, stubborn faces of Mannen and Hajime and Shin's quivering lower lip, she found herself unable to refuse.

"All right," she conceded with a sigh. "But I'm in charge, got it?"

Mannen looked reluctant at this, but didn't utter a word of complaint and fell into step behind her, along with the other two Knights. There was silence for awhile, but soon the boys began whispering excitedly amongst themselves, pleased to be presented with the chance to protect their Pretear all by themselves.

At the end of the block, Himeno headed towards a small, light blue house with a wooden porch swing. A massive white dog lay stretched out along its length, slumbering peacefully.

"Is this the house, Himeno-oneechan?" Hajime asked, but she didn't answer him, instead gazing at the porch with furrowed eyebrows. The three followed her line of sight--and saw a small figure huddled on the top step.

As they approached, the figure lifted its head to stroke the dog's thick fur, revealing itself to be a little girl about Mannen's age, wearing a pale blue sundress over a black long-sleeved shirt. Her feet bore no shoes and her arms were wrapped around her knees in a defensive posture. Her purple hair brushed her shoulders lightly, with twin white ribbons threaded in the two strands by her ears.

"Kouri!" Himeno called, recognizing her instantly.

At the sound of her name, the girl looked up. Her eyes, an uneven mixture of blue and gray, lit up and she practically flew off the steps into Himeno's waiting arms. "Himeno-neechan!!"

The Pretear whirled her around before setting her down, as Mannen, Hajime, and Shin stared. "What are you doing out here, Kouri? Did your mother lock you out again?"

Kouri lowered her head, her amethyst bangs falling over her eyes. "Not on purpose," she muttered, almost defensively.

"Why'd your mom lock you out?" Mannen asked.

Kouri glanced at him suspiciously. "Himeno-neechan, who're they?"

The Ice Knight bristled. "Oi, I'm right here! Ask me!"

"I asked HER, Cotton Ball!"

"What did you call me?!"

In response, the girl reached out and patted his hair before he could pull away. "Your hair's fluffy and white, just like a cotton ball."

Mannen flushed, swatting her hand away. "Don't call me that!"

Himeno intervened, smiling at both of them. "This is Mannen, Hajime-chan, and Shin-chan. Guys, this is Kouri. Play together, all right?"

"Nice to meet you," Hajime said politely, and Shin smiled shyly, reaching for Kouri's hand. She grinned down at him, while Mannen scowled darkly, not at all pleased with his new nickname.

"Okesa's at a friend's house and Kenji and Samui are sleeping with Gin-chan," Kouri informed her babysitter, indicating the two small, previously-unnoticed boys who were curled up with the dog. "And since Okesa has the spare key…we can't get in. I just picked Sam-chan and Kenji up from daycare, so we haven't been out here long."

She looked so forlorn that Hajime hastened to cheer her up. "Let's go to the park, ne? We can play there!" He looked up at the older girl earnestly, while Kouri brightened. "Himeno-oneechan, can we?"

"Of course!" Himeno exclaimed, ascending the steps to wake the sleeping children. "And we can get some food from Goh, too!"

"Hooray!" The three Knights exulted, while Kouri looked mystified.

"Goh…?"

---**At the Café**---

"Are you all Himeno-neechan's boyfriends?" A wide-eyed Kouri inquired of Goh, Kei, and Hayate, who had joined the group at the restaurant and were now openly gaping at her.

"**NO**!" Hayate cried out (louder than he'd intended to be), his voice cracking from embarrassment. One-year-old Samui, who sat on his lap with his sky-blue pacifier in his mouth, blinked up at him bemusedly. The Wind Knight began mumbling something, turning bright-red--the exact shade that Himeno and Goh were, oddly enough. Kei simply seemed amused by the child's candidness.

"T-they're just friends!" Himeno stammered, and Kouri shrugged at this answer, turning her attention back to her parfait and digging into it quite enthusiastically. God bless the short attention spans of children.

"Can't be her boyfriend, 'Ri." Kenjiro, who was four and very inquisitive, tugged on Kei's white coat emphatically. "It's a girl!"

THIS made the normally-austere golden-haired knight choke on his tea. It also made the children start giggling. Gin-chan stuck his head out from under the table, taking advantage of their distraction to wolf down Mannen's sandwich.

"Give that back!" The boy yelled, trying to tug it from the dog's unyielding jaws. "Stupid dog!"

While Kei coughed and sputtered and Himeno tried to explain to Kenjiro that Kei (while very feminine in appearance) was male, Kouri leapt to her feet and knocked aside her chair, stormy eyes blazing with righteous fury (or so she thought).

"Don't call him stupid, Cotton Ball!"

"Don't call me Cotton Ball, Stupid!"

"Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Kei, normally, would have come in with some quip about how loud kids were, but was still trying to recover from the blow to his masculinity--because Kenjiro was now asking how the "pretty girl" could be a man with such a high voice.

Poor Knight.

Before things could escalate into a full-blown brawl between the two quarreling ten-year-olds, Goh stepped in to mediate, hauling Mannen up by his hood and grabbing Kouri's arm, which forced the two to separate. "Now, now, you two, there's no need for you to--" He broke off as the girl winced. "…What's the matter? Did I grab you too hard?"

"N-no," she replied, but the waiter noticed that she was speaking through gritted teeth. Looking perplexed, Goh rolled up her shirt sleeve and exposed several large and nasty-looking blue, purple, and black bruises littered on her skin. _But I didn't do that!!_ He thought, almost alarmed at the thought that he might have by accident.

A stunned hush had fallen over the group, as Kenjiro looked away from his sister and Kouri jerked free, pulling the sleeve back over her arm.

"What HAPPENED to you?" Hajime wanted to know.

The purple-haired girl reddened. "It's nothing," she mumbled, closing her eyes and turning her head away.

"Nothing?!" Goh, who harbored a deep fondness for children (despite his tough talk), was thoroughly livid. "Those bruises aren't NOTHING! Who did this to you??"

Himeno looked over at the tight-lipped ten-year-old and her two brothers, whose blank stares provided no answers. But she had some idea as to what had caused those marks on her charge's arm.

"Kouri, have you been fighting with your mom's boyfriend again?"

The Leafe Knights all glanced expectantly at Kouri, who was visibly shaking, her small hands balled into fists. Acting unconsciously, Mannen stepped forward and tentatively laid a hand on her shoulder. Instead of shrugging him off like he half-expected her to, she allowed his hand to stay there and drew in a deep breath.

"He kicked Kenji and he kept slapping Mom," she said tiredly, by way of explanation. "He almost hurt Samui too, and he broke one of Gin-chan's ribs. I don't CARE if he was drinking, he's not allowed to hurt them!"

"And you tried to defend them, didn't you?" Himeno asked gently.

"Why?" Hayate demanded, when the little girl nodded. "You're a kid! Couldn't your mother have--"

Kouri shook her head, a weary smile hovering on her lips. "Someone's gotta look out for the weaker ones, you know?"

Mannen's violet eyes widened, but Goh decided that the tense atmosphere needed to be dissolved. With no warning whatsoever, he swooped down on Kouri and settled her on his broad shoulders in one fluid movement.

"Yooosh! Come on, everyone, we're going to the park!"

"But I didn't finish my cake!" Hajime protested, while Shin stared wistfully into his tea. Goh, however, was in no mood for arguments and simply took the youngest Knight's hand in his while holding Kouri steady with the other, giving Hajime and (anyone else who might have had excuses) the "Look".

The "Look" proved effective enough as everyone (including a reluctant Kei and Hayate) followed him as the Fire Knight headed for the park.

---**At the Park**---

By the time they had arrived at the small park, lined with majestic trees, Kouri was back to her cheerful, inquisitive, and argumentative self. Which was a blessing for some, and a major pain for others.

"I can't believe you can't do a cartwheel!"

"Shut up! I can too!"

"Then prove it."

"I don't _have_ to prove anything to a GIRL. They're weaker than us, anyway!"

"Himeno-chan's a girl," Shin pointed out logically.

"I _know _that!" Mannen growled. "But she's also the Pre--"

"Mannen!" Hayate spoke sharply, the name itself becoming a stern reprimand and the Ice Knight blanched.

Kouri blinked. "Pre--what?"

"Uhhhh…" Mannen drew the word out, desperately stalling. "She's…uh…pre…_PRETTIER_ than you!"

His companion was baffled now. "That doesn't make any sense, Cotton Ball."

"I told you not to call me that!" Mannen dove at her, his fingers ghosting across her ribs. Kouri gave a loud shriek and went down, trying to elude the devilish fingers, but the boy pursued, tickling her mercilessly. Kenjiro, Shin, and Hajime gleefully joined in and Samui, held securely in Himeno's arms as she shared a bench with Hayate and Goh, watched the laughing clump of children with an air of puzzlement.

Kei rolled his eyes as he worked feverishly at his laptop on a nearby bench, although he was smiling faintly. "Children are so loud and annoying…it's making it hard for me to concentrate."

"Really?" Himeno seemed genuinely surprised at this. "I think they're great!"

Goh blinked at her, looking for all the world like a spiky-haired owl. "You really like kids, don't you, Himeno?"

"Mm-hm!" The girl nodded happily. "The fact that they can laugh and smile shows that they haven't let the world get them down! I want to be able to protect those smiles, even when they grow older. They bring a lot of joy to everyone around them and they learn so much so fast…" For a few seconds, her pink eyes took on a hint of dreaminess and the older Knights knew she was reminiscing about her mother. "That's why I want to have children of my own someday…a lot of them!"

"I'm sure their father will be a very lucky man," Goh assured her. For some reason, he and Kei were looking directly at Hayate--and smirking. The blue-haired Wind user colored and shot them a warning glare.

The smirks went unnoticed by Himeno. The glare and blush, unfortunately, did not.

"Hayate? Are you all right?"

If possible, Hayate's crimson blush grew even darker, but he was spared from answering by Kouri's panicked shout.

"Himeno-neechan, _move_!!"

Himeno and the older Knights looked at her in surprise. The little girl was on her feet, her blue-gray eyes stark in her face as she pointed to a space just behind her babysitter.

"What's wrong with you?" Mannen looked at her concernedly, realizing that now was not the time to jest. Even little Shin and Kenjiro sobered rather quickly, glancing around to see what had upset her so.

"Behind…" Kouri whispered, her voice rising slowly. "There's something--"

Before she could complete her sentence, the ground under their feet burst upwards in an explosion of jagged rubble. Hayate wrapped his arms around Himeno (who maintained her grip on the now-bawling Samui) and shot into the air, simultaneously changing outfits like the rest of the Knights had already done. Kouri stumbled, but grabbed hold of her brother, while Mannen seized Shin and Hajime hovered over the siblings.

It was then that Himeno sensed the sinister presence of an old "friend". "Mayouchuu!" She cried out, as a black haze succeeded the explosion, enveloping the once cheery area in darkness and draining the greenness and vitality right out of the surrounding flora. Kouri and Kenjiro, feeling its effects, slumped down, while Gin-chan rolled over and lay still and Samui did the same in the Pretear's tight embrace. Mannen, who had released Shin, eyed them worriedly. This thing had to be vanquished, fast!

The monster now chose to make its appearance, manifesting as the world's ugliest jellyfish with the head of a moldy rabbit. Mayouchuu would definitely never win a beauty contest. But that was a matter for later consideration--for one of its tentacles was reaching for the unconscious Kenjiro.

"Shin, the barrier!" Goh called to the youngest fighter, who nodded and held his hands over an amber pendant worn around his neck. With the simple utterance of "Beyondios!", long vines began to snake out of the pendant and formed a sort of cage around the larva. However, the thing wasn't going to be taken so easily, and began to thrash about, shrieking loudly and harshly. Another tentacle whipped towards Shin and smashed into the child before any of the Knights could reach him. With a choked wail, he went flying backwards, smacking into Mannen. The spell had been disrupted and the beast now went on a rampage, its many tentacles darting about so rapidly that the Knights were being knocked out of the sky left and right.

And then, as he was firing a stream of icicles at one particular tentacle, Mannen heard a voice. A very pissed-off voice.

"Get away from my brother, you stupid garden hose!!"

_It CAN'T be…_

But it was. Kouri had somehow, miraculously, managed to revive herself and now stood on defiant (albeit wobbly) legs in front of the fallen Kenjiro, swiping at one advancing snaky limb--with a STICK. …Okay, half a stick now, because the larva had just devoured half of it.

"You…get away from him…right now!" The child panted, between swipes and slashes, actually managing to score a few hits on the tentacle--for all the help THAT did. "I'm not gonna let…some ugly thing…like you…mess with ANY of my family!"

Mannen risked a glance at the other Knights. They were still fending off the mayouchuu, but Goh and Kei had also seen that Kouri was up and fighting against something more than twice her size, with no magical abilities whatsoever. If it hadn't been such a dire situation, he would have burst out laughing at the expressions of stupefied shock on their faces. Himeno had the same look, minus the stupefied and plus the panic.

"Hajime-chan, pret with me!" She called to the seven-year-old, pressing Samui into Hayate's arms and reaching for the Water Knight's hand.

With a brilliant flash of cerulean light, Hajime merged with the Pretear, just as the tentacle snaked around Kouri and tightened, hefting her into the air.

"KOURI!!" Fearing even more for her charge's safety, and definitely not looking forward to her mother's reaction if the girl was injured, Himeno charged forward. She could see bright traces of light drifting along the tentacle that held the child captive, and knew with a feeling of dread that the mayouchuu was draining Kouri of her Leafe. And being so young, she didn't have enough of it. If she kept losing it, she would…

"Mizu no flail!" The water-formed whip manifested in her hand as the pink-haired girl searched for an opening. She saw the core easily enough, buried under the gelatinous flesh, but luck was evidently having a day off--it was located in the spot where Kouri was being held. If she struck, she could destroy the core, and the beast in the process, but she might also hurt her charge. That wasn't an option. Not until Kouri was safe. And, seeing that the purple-haired girl was now limp and unresisting in the tentacle's grasp, Himeno had to make a decision soon.

Attacking together as they usually did, Goh and Kei simultaneously fired out bursts of their respective elements--fire and light. This made the larva recoil, and the tentacle was severed from its main body. Kouri dropped like a stone, but the Fire Knight was there to catch her. "Finish it, Himeno!" He yelled, clutching the child protectively to his chest.

Himeno needed no further urging. With a single flick and concise aim, she nailed the core with the whip. The small orb cracked and shattered and the mayouchuu slowly disintegrated into the air, restoring the park to its normal green surroundings.

---**After the Battle**---

"Is she going to be okay?" She recognized the small, frightened voice as Shin's, but couldn't figure out WHY he sounded that way.

"She should be." The cool, collected reply belonged to Kei. "Goh got her away from the mayouchuu before it could do some harmful damage. She is, after all, a child, and children don't have much Leafe. She just needs to rest and recover."

At the faint mumbling objection she was able to force out of her throat, the Knights and Himeno perked up.

"Kouri-chan…?" Hajime said tremulously, peering at the girl slumped in a seated position on Goh's lap.

"Resting's…boring…" Kouri cracked open her eyelids, staring up at the circle of concerned faces that surrounded her. The concern swiftly altered to relief.

"'Ri!" Kenjiro squirmed in front of Hayate to check his sister for injuries. "Are you okay? Himeno-neechan said that we were attacked by a dog! Did it bite you?"

Kouri blinked slowly, getting off the Fire Knight's lap. "A dog?" She echoed dubiously. "But that's not…"

Hayate made a strangled noise in his throat, and she glanced at him questioningly. He shook his head and she sighed.

"That's right, Kenji, it was a dog. Why don't you go talk to the pretty lady some more?"

The boy brightened and grabbed Kei's hand, enthusiastically towing the Knight towards the sandbox. Kei decided not to object--just this once.

Once Kenjiro was sufficiently out of earshot, Kouri looked at the others with raised eyebrows.

"Dogs don't have tentacles. What REALLY happened?"

Mannen, Hajime, Hayate, and Goh all looked similarly discomfited. The latter suddenly picked up Shin and excused himself to "go play with the others". Gin-chan trailed after them, instinctively sensing that this was not going to be fun. This left Himeno as the only one not tongue-tied.

"Well…" She began awkwardly, knowing all too well that trying to lie to Kouri was as successful as Tanaka trying to win her stepmother's love. "Don't tell your mom, but I'm a Pretear…"

Kouri didn't look any less confused. "What's a Pretear?"

The girl's face was colored in a florid blush, but she did her best to explain the duties of a Pretear and how she defeated the bad guys without upsetting her delicate and easily impressionable charge.

She failed miserably.

"_**YOU DO WHAT WITH THEM**_?!"

"She gets stronger by preting with us!" Mannen snapped. "There's nothing wrong with that!"

"My mom calls that molesting!"

"Your mom's wrong!"

"YOU'RE wrong, you molesting Cotton Ball!"

"IT'S NOT MOLESTING, STUPID!"

Hayate coughed into his hand, while Himeno tried once again to explain how preting worked.

It was a long, long day for everyone.

---**OOC**---

Well, that was fun. I really do adore Kouri, and I'd love to hear your comments/criticisms/whatever. This story will only have four chapters. So there. Please review! Excerpt from next chapter: **Kouri Meets the Doom Tree.**

"…'Ri, I think the tree is evil…"

"Don't be silly, Kenji, trees can't be evil!"

The tree lifted a root and would have squished the children if their mother hadn't come running over and dragged them out of the way.

"…That is an EVIL tree!!"

Thank you. Two things: Okesa is Kouri's older sister. She'll show up later. Kouri's parents are divorced, so she lives with her mom, but visits her dad on Sundays. And Sasame doesn't show up in this chapter because he's Takako-angstingand ALSO at his job.


	2. Kouri Meets the Doom Tree

Well, thanks for all the reviews, everyone! All four of you made me a very happy writer, and so I shall torture--coughcough-- REWARD you with another chapter! Oh, stop groaning, it's not like I do this to make you SUFFER! -shifty eyes- 

Anyway, this particular chapter takes place during episodes 11, 12, and 13--the whole Taiji AKA "Great Tree of Fenril" goodness. Enjoy!

And we already know the whole disclaimer, that I don't own Pretear or its characters, so leave me alone!

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_They had been playing with a kite in the front yard of Himeno's oversized mansion, with Mannen trying to have sole possession of it, and Hajime and Kouri both protesting strongly against this. Shin and Kenjiro seemed satisfied just to run after the older children, waving their arms and echoing Hajime's cries of "No fair, no fair!"_

_Himeno and Hayate watched the rambunctious group as the former watered the flowers and the latter held a slumbering Samui awkwardly, as if unsure as to the correct way to carry a baby. Neither said a word, enjoying this rare moment of happiness that had once been so daily in their lives. Saihi had changed all of that, and the Pretear was determined to leave before the lives of her charges, friends, and family were put into danger._

_At that precise moment, Mannen tripped, seemingly over his own two feet, and toppled to the ground, still clutching the kite to his chest. Kouri screeched to a halt before she joined him and Hajime peered worriedly at the older Knight._

_"Mannen-nii, you hurt your knee…"_

_Sure enough, the white-haired boy sported a dark reddish scrape on his left knee. He prodded it and winced, but then stuck on a façade of bravado. "Awwww, that? It doesn't hurt a bit! I've gotten worse injuries."_

_"But it looks really painful!" Hajime persisted, and Shin and Kenjiro crowded in for a closer look. Kouri remained where she was for a few minutes, before a mischievous smile lit up her eyes. Planting a kiss on her palm, she placed it firmly on Mannen's knee with an air of great satisfaction._

_"There! It'll be just fine now."_

_Much to her amusement, the boy looked absolutely flabbergasted. "What…WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"_

_The other ten-year-old shook her head at him, lips pursed. "Whenever I fell down, Mom would always kiss it and say that kisses make everything better. So your knee won't hurt anymore."_

_For once, Mannen was speechless, but Kenjiro tugged on his sister's sleeve. "'Ri, don't you actually have to KISS the spot to make it better?"_

_Kouri giggled. "Maybe, but there's no way I'm kissing his dirty knee! It's all infected!" In a quick movement, she seized the kite from Mannen's lax grip and sprinted away with it. "Thanks for the kite, Cotton Ball!"_

_"Hey!" Mannen leapt to his feet, knee all but forgotten in this new indignity. "Give that back!!"_

_"Come and get it!"_

_As the shadows of the bright morning lengthened into the afternoon, the children gradually wore themselves out with their rowdy games and soon every single one had dropped off to sleep in the sun-warmed grass. When Himeno ambled closer, she saw that Mannen had his head propped on Kouri's stomach with one arm slung haphazardly across his chest. The girl had her own left arm tucked under Kenjiro, who slept back-to-back with Shin. The Knight of Plants was cuddled with Hajime, and all of this resulted in the cutest picture of innocence anyone could have imagined._

_Hayate knew his pink-haired companion all too well, and quickly got a better grip on Samui before reaching over to clap a hand over Himeno's mouth. Sure enough, he heard a faint, muffled "Kawaiiiiiiii!" vibrating against his palm._

_The older woman who stood with them seemed to be of the same opinion, extricating her youngest son from Hayate's hold and gazing down at the sleeping group with an air of fondness. _

_"I almost hate to wake them up…"_

_Before he knew it, Hayate did a rare thing. _

_He volunteered. _

_"I can carry them for you, without waking them up…" _

_Himeno almost snickered at his sudden timidity. Poor Hayate. Being flustered was a new experience for him, one quickly becoming normal as he spent more time with the Pretear. _

_"Oh, would you?" Mrs. Awaremi flashed him a grateful smile. "Kouri and Kenjiro aren't at all heavy." _

_And so it was that Goh, on his way to deliver a customer's order to the chef, saw a very unusual sight._

_An attractive brown-haired woman and a very embarrassed-looking blue-haired Knight walked side-by-side, the former cradling a baby and the latter having a ten-year-old and a four-year-old draped over his shoulders like prize pelts. _

_Goh didn't feel TOO bad about borrowing a camera off a couple of tourists. Something this good just HAD to be captured on film, anyway. If just for the perfect blackmail factor._

**---Back to Reality---**

Kouri sighed listlessly, taking a distracted bite from her chocolate ice-cream and immediately remembering why one should NEVER bite one's ice-cream.

"Itaiiiii, that's coooold!" She whimpered, as her older sister glanced at her in disbelief.

"Baka, that's why you're supposed to lick it, not bite it! Honestly, you act like such a child sometimes!"

Kouri shot Okesa a sullen glare. "I AM a child," she muttered rebelliously, the only time she would freely admit it.

Okesa daintily licked her own strawberry dessert and rolled her eyes. At first glance, there wasn't much of a similarity between them. Sure, they both had purple hair, but Okesa's was so dark as to be closer to black than to an actual shade of violet. Her eyes were a simple blue, through and through, unlike Kouri's own muddled pair. Even though she was only two years older, she dressed a bit more like a young lady--this meant wearing long, floating skirts and pastel blouses, keeping her hair long and untangled, and not prancing around barefoot unlike certain little sisters. She was always trying to get Kouri to stop hanging around her brothers and those other little kids that Himeno often brought with her, but it was no use. Kouri disliked being told what to do and did her own thing anyway.

But now, Kouri was uncharacteristically silent. She was staring at a large poster plastered on a telephone pole with a picture of Himeno on it and glaring black characters: **SEARCHING FOR A MISSING PERSON**. Below that initial announcement, it listed information on Awayuki Himeno--her looks, when she had last been spotted, a reward for her safe return, and a request for any news that anyone might have of her.

_I haven't seen her since that day I was at her house with Kenji and Sam-chan,_ she thought sadly, peering up at the picture intently. _I wonder if she ran away…_

For that matter, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of any of the Knights either. She hated to admit it, but she missed arguing with Mannen over the slightest thing and planting flowers with Shin and Himeno. She yearned for the days of water fights with Mannen and getting free parfaits from Goh. She even missed the flustered looks Kei got whenever Kenjiro earnestly told him how pretty he was and the way Hayate colored whenever any of the kids "innocently" mentioned him and Himeno in the same sentence. Where had they all gone? If she had been a less than unreasonable girl, she would have thought that she had done something wrong to annoy them and they had left forever. But she knew even if she HAD bothered them, they wouldn't have left like this.

The ten-year-old sighed, becoming aware that on every street corner, a man in a black suit stood, clutching posters. Himeno's face adorned buildings, poles, and even blimps. Kouri half-expected the Pretear herself to step out and wave her arms frantically, yelling, "_**HAVE YOU SEEN ME**_?"

Okesa glanced at her sister, seeing her staring transfixed at the poster, with the forgotten ice-cream slowly dripping onto her hand as it melted. The girl rolled her eyes skyward. Kouri was a lost cause.

At that moment, Kouri jerked back to reality, glancing about her with wide eyes. She could have sworn she saw a cluster of pink tongues dart at her from the corner of her eye, and then a bright flash…but it was gone now, if it had even been there in the first place.

Frowning, she turned to her older sibling. "Oneesan, did you see…"

"I didn't see anything," Okesa snapped, grabbing her sister's wrist. "Come on, we have to get back home before Mom goes on her date."

As her sister hauled her away, the younger of the girls looked up at the sky, laden with fluffy white clouds.

"Himeno-neechan, where did you go…?"

**---The Next Day---**

Kouri was rudely roused from her dreams by her little brother's urgent shaking of her shoulder.

"Go 'way," she mumbled tiredly, curling up into a tighter ball. "Too earlyyyyy…"

Kenjiro sounded exasperated. "No, it's not, 'Ri. It's noon! You slept in!"

This registered, and the girl bolted upright. "I WHAT?!" She NEVER slept in, being one of those early morning risers. This was a first.

"You kept tossing and turning and when you weren't up for breakfast, Mommy said to just let you sleep," the four-year-old explained, while the girl distractedly ran her fingers through her short, mussed purple hair.

Kouri sighed, blinking unfocused blue-gray eyes as she got out of bed and shuffled towards the window. As she hauled on the cord that raised the blinds and the sunlight filtered into her rooms, all haziness in her eyes vanished, to be replaced with sheer astonishment.

"…Hey, 'Ri…" Kenjiro looked from his stunned sister to the window and back to her again. "…Did Himeno-neechan's friends all just fly by, wearing weird stuff?"

"…Would you believe me if I said no?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. Get out for a minute and let me change."

The little boy obeyed and Kouri rummaged through her drawers, grabbing a white, pleated skirt that reached an inch or so above her knees with a pair of black bike shorts underneath. She wriggled into a black long-sleeved turtleneck and struggled into her socks as she hopped down the stairs.

_If the Knights are here, they MUST know where Himeno-neechan is!_ She thought desperately. _And after they tell me, I'm going to pound Mannen's face in for not telling me where they went! _Oddly enough, this made her feel better and she bade her mother a cheery greeting as she flung open the door and raced outside with Kenjiro in tow.

"Where are we going?" The boy wanted to know as they trotted past the park.

"We're going to follow those stupid flying people," Kouri answered him, giving him a slightly demonic grin. "And when we find them, we're going to yell at them."

"I wanna know how the pretty lady can fly," Kenjiro told her with the utmost seriousness.

"Ask him la--" The girl stopped in her tracks, every nerve in her body suddenly alive and screaming at her to RUN.

Kenjiro blinked up at his sister innocently, blank as to why his sister had suddenly turned white. "Are you feeling okay, 'Ri?"

"Ssh." Kouri held up a finger, cocking her head to one side. "Listen."

Screams. There were loud, panicked screams and the sound of many feet from behind them and several crashes.

The Awaremi siblings turned around--and saw a wave of frightened people stampeding in their general direction, fleeing from…_branches?!_

"What's going on?" Kouri whispered, but then someone caught her by the hand and dragged her along with the tide of the yelling multitude. She winced as some unfortunate person went flying into a car, thanks to a branch, and looked up at the person who had her hand captive.

Rika Awaremi saw the confusion in her youngest daughter's cloudy eyes and did her best to smile reassuringly. "Keep a hold of your brother, Kouri. Okesa, do you have Samui?"

"Hai!" The twelve-year-old replied, holding her baby brother close.

"Good. Hurry, then!"

"What's happening??" Kenjiro wailed petulantly, straining to get a look behind him. He yanked his wrist out of Kouri's hand and ran the other direction to better see what everyone else was fleeing from. His sister muttered a low curse and ran after him. She found him blinking solemnly at a tree. A giant tree, which seemed to have taken root at…the Awayuki mansion?!

Kouri's eyes narrowed. So that was where the Knights had been headed. But…she still didn't understand what was happening. The tree's roots and branches seemed to be taking over the entire city, entwining around traffic lights and making them malfunction, squeezing cars until they shattered, and hurling people left and right.

"'Ri, I think the tree is evil…" Kenjiro said, after a long silence.

"Don't be silly, Kenji, trees can't be evil!"

One of the dormant roots lifted and hovered above the children menacingly. Their mother dragged them to safety just before the root smashed into the sidewalk where they'd stood, cracking it and forming a small crater.

"…That is an _EVIL_ tree!" Kouri decided, as she ran alongside her family, not wanting to stay close to the malevolent thing anymore. Something was bothering her, however…

It wasn't until they reached the bridge that led out of the city that she realized what it was.

"Gin-chan! We forgot him!" She tried to pull away, but Rika held firmly onto her arm.

"Kouri, don't. He'll be fine! We have to get out of here!"

The child dug her heels firmly into the ground. "NO! He's family, too, and I'm not leaving him!"

A branch swooped down from above and Rika ducked. Kouri took advantage of this to slip free and take off running back to her home.

"Kouri!" Her mother shouted desperately, trying to go after her, but hindered by the needs of her other three children and the flow of the crowd. "Kouri, come back! KOURI!"

Hearing an unfamiliar voice scream a very familiar name, Mannen looked down. A lady was standing there, looking torn, and sobbing heartrendingly.

"You need to get out of here," he told her as gently as he could, floating down while Hajime and Shin kept the roots at bay.

She sniffled, glaring at him through reddened eyes. "I'm not leaving my daughter! I'm not leaving Kouri!"

The Ice Knight frowned. He'd heard right, after all. That little idiot was going to get herself killed!

"Don't worry," he assured the stricken woman. "I'll find her and get her to safety. I promise." After all, Goh had charged him with making sure ALL of the city's residents got out safely. Even the annoying ones. "Just go. She'll be fine."

Rika hesitated, but Samui whimpered in his sister's smothering hold and this decided her. "Bring my daughter back," she told Mannen softly, looking trustingly into his violet eyes. Then she took hold of Kenjiro's hand and the family fled across the bridge, becoming lost amidst a sea of faces.

Mannen sighed, looking at his comrades in arms. "Hajime, Shin, keep getting people out! I'll be right back!"

"But where are you going??" Hajime cried.

"To find an idiot!" He paused as something shifted and looked to Shin for an answer. "What's going on now?"

"The tree…it…"

**---Back to Kouri---**

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Kouri kept repeating, as her beloved dog leapt up and washed her face with his tongue in the throes of delight. She wrapped her arms around his thick ruff and hugged him fiercely, then grasped his collar and led him swiftly down the ruined street. At least he hadn't been hurt by any of the roots.

Without warning, a blinding white light suddenly filled the area, once again emanating from the Awayuki place, and Kouri blinked when she realized that the roots had stopped moving and now lay limp and complacent.

"I don't know what just happened, but let's go, Gin-chan!" She quickened her pace and the dog fell into a fast trot beside her. They kept this up for a good ten minutes, but then Kouri flinched when she both felt and heard an ominous rumbling. The renewal of yells in the distance verified that the evil tree was on the move again. However, she didn't need any confirmation, for suddenly, the sidewalk buckled and pitched up, heaving girl and dog into an emptied convenience store--via the window.

In a shower of jagged glass, Kouri hit the floor, arms still clenched tightly around Gin-chan. Her entire body ached sharply, and there was a searing line of pain across her left cheek. Judging by the wetness she felt dripping down it, it was bleeding. Her dog seemed relatively unharmed except that his floppy ears were shredded at the tips and he was limping a little. Several thin ribbons of crimson liquid drizzled across his side, marring his formerly pristine white coat.

Fierce rage filled Kouri's small body and she scrambled out of the store, glaring daggers at the offending root, which was still thrashing about.

"Leave my dog alone, you stupid stick!"

Acting almost as if it could hear her and was affronted, the root steadied and raised itself up. Then, abruptly, it shot for her, knocking her off her feet and sending her careening into a pillow.

Wait…a **PILLOW**?

"Aaaaaargh, baka! Why'd you have to go and run off?"

Kouri blinked and realized that it wasn't a pillow she'd hit. Pillows couldn't hug you so hard that it felt like your ribs were being crushed.

"What the--Mannen?!" She turned to get a better look at her rescuer as they floated slowly to the ground. Sure enough, it was the same Ice Knight with the disheveled white hair and the large purple eyes. Except he looked like he'd been in a fight with Godzilla and Godzilla had won. His Knight outfit was torn and ripped, he bore several cuts on his face and hands, and the teasing spark that usually lit up those dark oculars was just a mere pinpoint now. He released her and wearily raised a hand, firing a jet of ice at the tree appendage and freezing it solid before it had a chance to attack again.

"Your mom freaked out and I promised I'd find you and get you away from here." Mannen grinned crookedly, swiping at a particularly dark smudge on his face with his fist. His eyes rested on the cut on her cheek. "Are you okay? You got cut…"

Kouri returned his grin with one every bit as lopsided. "Awww, that? It doesn't hurt a bit! I've gotten worse injuries."

The boy chuckled ruefully as she used the exact words he'd said on the day he'd last seen her. And then, remembering what else had taken place that day, he leaned forward and left a lingering kiss on her cheek. "So it'll feel better," he whispered, his cold lips brushing the tip of her reddened ear.

Before Kouri could counter with a biting remark to hide her flustered confusion, Mannen had seized her hand and was rising into the air once more.

"Hey, wait!" She pointed at Gin-chan, who was now loping towards them. "What about Gin-chan?"

Mannen sighed. "You're heavy enough! I can't carry him too!"

"Then I'll walk. I'm not leaving him behind again!"

As he gazed into her scowling face, the young Knight wished that he'd saved someone a little less stubborn.

"Look, I'll fly slow enough. He can run along and you make sure he keeps up, got it?"

Kouri realized this was the best she was going to get from him. She looked sternly at the family canine. "Gin-chan, follow. DON'T SNIFF ANY FIRE HYDRANTS."

The dog wagged his tail and whined in agreement and the girl allowed Mannen to lift her into the sky once more, grasping his hand firmly.

"What's going on, anyway?" With a sweep of her free hand, she indicated the rubble of the streets and dwellings and the tree in the distance.

"Saihi took control of Himeno-neechan's sister and made that tree start attacking people and Sasame went to her side, and Himeno-neechan and Hayate went to fight her. Goh and Kei told me, Hajime, and Shin to get everyone out of the city. The tree calmed down for awhile, and Shin said it was confused, but then it woke up again and it's been like that."

The ten-year-old looked slightly befuddled. "Who're Saihi and Sasame?"

"Sasame is one of the Knights, but he's in love with Saihi. She was once a Pretear, but she went bad because of Hayate and became a Princess of Disaster."

"And you're all fighting…" Kouri was silent as they flew towards the bridge, noticing the two familiar figures fighting off yet more roots. Goh and Kei… "Mannen, I want to help."

The Ice Knight stopped short and glanced back at her. There was no hint of playfulness in his gaze…just fatigued worry.

"No. You're not a Knight or a Pretear. You'd only get hurt."

"But--" Kouri began, but he cut her off sharply.

"You're always defending your family, without thinking about yourself! I know you're worried about Himeno-neechan, but you can't help this time! I promised your mom I'd give you back safe and alive! Worry about yourself for once! Besides, you'd just get in the way."

He stiffened, having spotted the tears brimming in his companion's eyes. "Oh geez, I didn't mean it that way. The best thing you can do for us is to be safe and I don't want anything happening to you!" His voice cracked slightly. "Even if you don't believe it, you're my friend, Kouri! So please, go be with your family! We'll be all right, I promise! Just don't cry!"

"I know I'm being stupid!" Kouri sobbed, the tears flowing unhindered now. "I know it! But all of you, risking your lives to save everybody…who's going to save you? I know I'd only get in the way, but…I don't want to run away like a fraidy cat!"

"Baka," Mannen chided her, eyes softening. "You're brave so don't think you're being a wimp. Stop worrying about everyone else and help your brothers. They're scared and they need you right now." He set her down on the asphalt as Gin-chan halted just beside them. "Your mom's coming. I need to get back to Shin and Hajime."

He started to fly off, but Kouri slowly reached out, eyes still watering. It was then that Mannen realized that despite her tough talk and her penchant for violence, and her claim that she didn't need anyone's help…Kouri was still a kid, just like he was (as much as he hated to admit it). She was just as afraid of losing people she cared for as he was.

With this new knowledge implanted in his mind, Mannen took her hand. They shook hands solemnly, and then, without a word, he took to the sky. Without a word, a promise had been made between comrades. A promise to survive.

"Be careful, Cotton Ball," were Kouri's departing words to him as her hysterical mother and relieved siblings came racing up to engulf her in hugs.

**---Later…---**

Kenjiro stuck out his hand to receive a falling snowflake, watching it as it melted into chilled water the instant it touched his warm palm. "It's snowing," he whispered, in tones of great wonderment.

His ten-year-old sister nodded, observing as the bloody strips on Gin-chan's fur and ears disappeared and her own cut was healed. But Mannen had already made it better.

"Something happened," Okesa noted, watching everything rebuild itself before her very eyes and hugging a cooing Samui while her mother wept tears of joy. "We were saved."

Kouri nodded, inhaling deeply as a fresh breeze carried cherry petals across the pale blue sky and unaware that someone else was also watching the sky with eyes of amethyst.

**---OOC---**

Trust me, if you haven't seen this episode, you'll probably be confused. The tree was the ebil tree that was created when Sasame broke Mawata's heart by kissing Takako. The bright light was when Mawata emerged from the tree, which made it dormant for a bit because she had been its core of despair. Then Sasame died and TAKAKO became the new core, which got the tree in an uproar and it started attacking again. And the snow is the Leafe Snow that heals everything. Himeno made this happen when she transformed into the White Pretear. The end. And if you're STILL confused…watch the anime. -.-

Please review and here's a preview for the next chapter: **Kouri Meets Her Conscience!**

_The dark, ominous shadow crept over to the bed in which her new puppet lay. "Despair," she whispered tantalizingly. "Hate, my dear…become my puppet of darkness!"_

_Kouri blinked. "…Are you my conscience?"_

_Needless to say, the creature was unsure how to approach this. "Ah…yes, it is I, your conscieeeeence…despaiiiiir for no one loves you…"_

_Goh chose that moment to throw open the door in a very heroic manner. "DON'T LISTEN TO A THING SHE'S SAYING!"_

_The child smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, hello. Are you my conscience too?"_

_It was Goh's turn to blink. "Uh…"_

_"If you are, please tell Kei I'm sorry for throwing up on him. I'm gonna go to sleep now, the macaroni's dancing…"_

10 pages…-dies-


	3. Kouri Meets Her Conscience

You guys are awesome. I'm just so happy that this story is getting nice reviews. Yes, Chelsie, blame the dancing macaroni. ALWAYS blame the dancing macaroni. . Although you can guess about the eyes of amethyst thing all by yourself. 

**Kirakayano**- Probably. I like the relationship Kouri and Mannen have as kids, and I AM planning a sequel fic to this, so we'll see if anything develops. Plans in your fic? Oooh…

**Kohaku-san-** No, no, Sasame did it all for love! Betraying his friends, risking the safety of the world, breaking Mawata's heart, killing a black turkey and making a coat out of it…-blink- Yeah, he WAS sorta insane, wasn't he?

So, we all know what happened last chapter, and now…it's time to torture Kei! Ohhh, I'm so mean. -cackle- And the Saihi wannabe isn't really a threat. I just needed something evil.

Here we go! Thanks to Soyakaze and Kirakayano for updating...you two inspired me!  
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Himeno suspected something was amiss with her ten-year-old charge when Kouri didn't respond to Mannen's teasing about tripping over her own two feet and sprawling gracelessly to the ground. Instead, she had sat up, glanced over at the young Knight, then got to her feet and plopped down at one of the picnic tables in the park.

The Pretear exchanged a glance with Sasame and Takako, the former Pretear and Princess of Disaster. Hayate was helping Kaoru with his sculpting, Goh and Kei were both working, and this left the Knight of Sound and his love interest to help Himeno tend Mannen, Kouri, Hajime, Shin, Kenjiro, and Samui. Okesa was (as always) staying at a friend's house, preferring not to play with the younger children.

"Kouri…" Sasame approached the listless girl, smiling down at her with twinkling amethyst eyes. "You want Mawata-san to teach you origami? She's very talented."

The child nodded slowly. "Okay…"

However, even the folding of exquisite cranes and delicate flowers failed to rouse Kouri out of her stupor and, as Shin laboriously worked the yellow paper beside her, her head met the surface of the table with a hard clunk.

Kenjiro shook his head at his sister. "She should really get more sleep."

**------**

By the end of the day, Kouri had awakened again, but was lagging even worse than before. So it was that Himeno watched her enter her house with Samui and Kenjiro, her reddish eyes containing unease.

"It's probably nothing to worry about," Takako assured her, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure she's just tired."

"I LIKE her like this!" Mannen piped up. "She should be like that all the time!"

Hajime frowned at this. "Nuh-uh! She's happier when she's herself!"

"I'M happier when she's not!"

The pink-haired teenager allowed herself to relax as she led the way back to the Awayuki mansion, listening to Hajime and Mannen arguing about nothing in particular.

"She'll be fine…"

_**---Two Days Later---**_

Rika had called Himeno early that morning, sounding rushed and slightly frantic.  
"Himeno-san, are you doing anything today?"

"No, not really," Himeno answered, covering a yawn with one hand. "Did you need me to baby-sit?"

Mrs. Awaremi sighed. "If it isn't too much of a bother…Okesa spent the night at her friend's house, so she won't be home until this evening. It will just be Samui and Kenjiro and Kouri…but do you mind staying in the house with them?"

The girl became more alert. "No, not at all…what is it?"

"Well, Kouri has a bit of the flu, poor thing. She's been feeling poorly all week and she developed a fever last night…however, I have work and I don't want to leave her with someone unfamiliar. If you want, you can bring your little friends with you, but she may still be contagious." Another soft exhalation was heard. "Normally, she and the other children would be with her father today, but we don't want to move Kouri and her brothers insisted on staying with her."

Himeno clutched the phone tightly. That explained why Kouri had been so lethargic lately--she'd been coming down with the flu. She didn't want to expose the Leafe Knights to the disease…but she could at least help.

"Of course I'll come…mm-hm…thirty minutes…all right. I'll see you then." Hurriedly, she donned her regular Sunday outfit and dashed off to find the Knights and explain to them where she would be today. She expected they wouldn't have a problem with her taking care of a sick Kouri and her brothers.

She was right. No one objected to this. What she DIDN'T expect was when every single one of them (except for Sasame, who was doing his radio show and Takako, who was going to watch) wanted to tag along.

"Chicken soup's the best thing for sickness!" Goh told Himeno firmly when she tried to protest. "And I can just grab some from the kitchen; the cooks won't mind. The poor thing…"

Hayate and Kei both claimed that they were coming to protect Himeno from any threats, although she reminded them that Saihi had been effectively abolished and there wasn't much danger anymore. Kei pointed out that one could never be too careful and that was that.

Hajime had just calmly stated that Kouri was their friend and he wanted to make her a "Get Well Soon" card, while Shin's large eyes threatened to spill over and Mannen sighed that he had to come along and keep them all out of trouble.

And so it was that Himeno showed up on the Awaremi house with a video game designer, a waiter, a messenger, and three young boys ranged behind her.

_How do I get myself into these messes…?_

In response to her knock, the door was answered by a harried-looking young woman, her dark bangs falling into her cerulean eyes as she distractedly tugged a clinging Kenjiro away from her leg.

"Hello, Himeno-san," she began, glancing up with a worn smile to greet the babysitter…but then she froze, letting her eyes rove over the assorted group of males that Himeno had brought with her.

"G-gomen ne," the girl apologized, sweatdropping. "They all heard Kouri was sick, and…"

Rika tapped her chin thoughtfully with a neatly manicured finger. "Hmm, yes…you're the nice young men who fought off that horrid tree about a week ago, aren't you? Knights of the Round Table, or something?"

"Leafe Knights," Kei corrected her, raising an eyebrow.

"Right, right…" She nodded, mostly to herself, then scooped up Kenjiro and passed him over to a surprised Goh. "Well, I certainly don't object to our saviorsbeinghere for awhile, so feel free to stay as long as you'd like. Himeno-san, I've left numbers on the counter and Samui is sleeping right now. He should be up in two hours. Also, Kouri should take the medication in the refrigerator at three o'clock. It might make her a little groggy, but that's to be expected. I should be back around seven or eight tonight. Thanks again!" With a wave, she dashed out the door, still in the process of attaching a pearl earring to her left earlobe.

The Fire Knight carefully set Kenjiro down and stepped into the house. "Wow…so that's their mom…she moves fast."

"She's like that," Himeno replied, following him in with the others. "She has main custody of her kids, but she's always running out to work or go out on dates, so she calls me a lot to baby-sit." She smiled fondly at the four-year-old, who still seemed somewhat disoriented. "Not that I mind. They're great kids."

Kenjiro cocked his head, peering up at his babysitter with large blue eyes, the gears in his mind whirring furiously. "…Game?"

Ah, yes. When disoriented, with your siblings in various states of repose and surrounded by a bunch of elemental boys and someone who merges with them, what better thing to do than kick all their asses at Go Fish?

_**---Two Hours Later---**_

Hayate bit his tongue to keep from cursing as Mannen gleefully took the large pile of cards he had just slapped and won.

"I'm winning! Better luck next time, huh, Hayate?"

The Knight of Wind deigned not to reply, desperately trying to save his dignity. And once again, Kouri came to the rescue, in the form of a very panicked voice ringing from upstairs, "_MOM_?!"

This sudden expostulation was followed by a wail from Samui…who had apparently just woken up and discovered that his mother was nowhere in sight.

A glance swept around the card-playing circle and they simultaneously rose to their feet, with Himeno and Kei dashing upstairs to answer Kouri's summons and Hayate and Kenjiro going to check on Samui. Mannen, Hajime, Goh, and Shin hesitated, before deciding to follow the Pretear and the Knight of Light.

As Himeno burst into the bedroom with Kei on her heels, Kouri was sitting up, clutching her sheets in a white-knuckled hand and covered in a cold sweat. "I…" She whispered hoarsely, turning even paler as she spoke. "I'm going to…"

The high-schooler knew enough to step aside quickly. However…poor unwitting Kei didn't move out of the way in time and got the most interesting look of horror on his dark face as the ten-year-old vomited…all over his shirt.

There was a stunned silence for a seemingly long duration of three minutes, as Kei glanced down mutely at his ruined shirt, Himeno and the other Knights gaped like fish, and Kouri burst into tears.

This wouldn't do. Himeno took charge immediately, barking out orders left and right.

"Goh, get some water! Mannen, a wet cloth! Hajime-chan and Shin-chan, go help Kei clean off his shirt, please." She turned her attention to the sobbing child still rigidly upright in bed and sat down beside her, pulling her into a much-needed hug. "It's all right, Kouri, it's okay…it's done now."

"I threw up on Kei-saaaaan!" Kouri wailed wetly, unable to suppress her tears, much to her chagrin and shame. The last thing she wanted was to cry in front of everyone like this, but at least they were gone now, having obeyed Himeno's orders with startling alacrity. "I-I threw u-u-up on a KNIGHT!"

"It happens," the pink-haired girl told her gently, stroking her hair soothingly. "He'll recover…" She glanced up as Goh and Mannen made their reappearance, each bashfully clutching the items she had requested of them. With a warm smile and an appreciative nod, she took the glass from the former and handed it to Kouri. "Drink, you'll feel better."

The girl obeyed, taking slow, careful sips with tears still streaming down her face. She passed it back after she had lowered the water level slightly and Himeno helped her lie back down, tucking the covers over her and smoothing her hair back from her forehead. Mannen, understanding what he was to do, laid the damp cloth carefully on Kouri's forehead, then placed his hand on top of that. He would keep it cold so they wouldn't have to keep soaking it.

"Come back downstairs when she's asleep," Himeno whispered to the young Knight as she and Goh exited the room. Mannen grimaced slightly, but decided now was not the time to argue and instead focused on Kouri. She looked absolutely miserable, so he tried to cheer her up, Mannen-style.

"Wow, I thought Kei was going to have a heart attack when you threw up on him! You should've seen his face!"

Kouri let out a choked sob and turned her face away. Frowning, Mannen grasped her shoulder and rolled her over so that she was lying on her back once more.

"Baka, if you turn away, I can't keep the cloth cold!"

Silence. The boy's eyes softened, as did his tone.

"Look, it's not your fault that you don't feel good. And it's not like you threw up on Kei on PURPOSE. He'll forgive you."

"…In front of everybody…" Kouri mumbled, peering up at Mannen with darkened blue-gray eyes. "I'm being a pain…and causing trouble." Her entire body tensed up and he quickly fetched the waste bucket, holding it for her as she choked up the acidic contents of her stomach. "S-see?" She rasped, slumping back down tiredly after she had sipped more water to clear out the taste.

Mannen shook his head. "Then stop crying and go to sleep. You'll get better faster that way. Besides…" He colored a light shade of pink. "It's weird to see you cry. You're tougher than that. So get some rest; I'm not going anywhere."

He remained seated a full twenty minutes after the girl had drifted off, and finally went back downstairs to fill Himeno in on her status. Her fever hadn't abated, but her sleep was restful. Gin-chan had curled up on the bed beside Kouri and was snoozing lightly, although Mannen had tried to get the dog off so he wouldn't bother the invalid. Kouri, however, didn't seem to mind and in fact was snuggled close with her face pressed against the canine's thick fur.

_**---Meanwhile, Sinister Forces are LURKING…---**_

Takako had been a weak fool, easily conquered by the horrible existence of a thing called Love. She had abandoned the glory, the power of darkness, to be with that Leafe Knight…indeed, she had been foolish. But IT was not going to make the same mistakes. It was going to sap the Leafe out of everything, take control of one of the Pretear's companions, and inflict much pain and suffering on this world. After all, it had never been human and so didn't have to worry about those risks and casualties.

The shadow slipped silently inside the house where it sensed the Pretear's presence. After a pause, it cast out its senses, searching for the right candidate to use for its disastrous purposes. The Leafe Knights and the Pretear were too full of love and happiness to be of any use to it, and the two small boys were too innocent…they hadn't experienced that much pain. But…

Wait. It perked up. There was someone…slightly older than the boys, but younger than the Pretear. This someone had faced pain and heartache and harbored resentment towards a certain person…an older male figure. She was a child, but mature enough. She would do quite nicely.

Concentrating now, the shadow gathered its substance into itself and formed into a tall, voluptuous black-haired woman. Puppets always related better to those of their own kind. Her form writhed for a moment, then faded out, seeking Kouri's bedroom.

At that instant (whether due to timely concern or freaky Goh intuition), Goh decided to check on the "patient", announcing his destination to the others (who were now involved in playing a game appropriately named "Aggravation") and ascended the stairs.

It was then that he saw a hint of smoky blackness drift somewhere above him and frowned. Hm. That certainly couldn't be good!

Having reached the room, the dark, ominous shadow crept over to the bed in which her (its?) new puppet lay, just rousing from her foggy dreams. "Despair," she whispered tantalizingly. "Hate, my dear…become my puppet of darkness!"

Kouri blinked, raising the lids further to stare upon the strange wench in her bedroom. "…Are you my conscience?"

Needless to say, the creature was unsure how to approach this, but decided to go along with it anyway. "Ah…yes, it is I, your conscieeeeence…despaiiiiir for no one loves you…"

Goh chose that moment to throw open the door in a very heroic manner, having heard everything up to that point. "DON'T LISTEN TO A THING SHE'S SAYING!"

The child smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, hello. Are you my conscience too?"

It was Goh's turn to blink. "Uh…"

"If you are, please tell Kei I'm sorry for throwing up on him. I'm gonna go to sleep now, the macaroni's dancing…" Without another word, her head hit the pillow and she was whisked back to the land of fever-induced dreams…which, apparently, involved dancing macaroni. It was evident that she hadn't quite recovered from her sickness yet.

For the longest of seconds, Goh and the woman stared at each other, each desperately trying to comprehend what had just happened and what to do know. The Fire Knight reacted first.

He threw a fireball.

**_BOOM._**

Himeno and the others looked up sharply, hearing the noise emanating from…_Kouri's bedroom_?!

"He blew her up!!" Kenjiro cried, panicked.

"He's not THAT stupid!" Mannen retorted, dashing up the stairs and reaching the room just in time to see Goh and a shadow duking it out, while Kouri and Gin-chan slept peacefully in the midst of battle.

"Goh!" Hajime scolded, peeking out from behind the older boy. "You know you're not supposed to wake up Kouri or do weird things with women!"

"It's not LIKE THAT!" Goh yelled, sending the shadow flying out the window--luckily, the thing phased out in time and avoided breaking the glass. However, it wasn't safe yet, for it was met by a strong gust of wind and impaled with a sword, courtesy of a very pissed-off Wind Pretear.

"And THAT is why you shouldn't mess with my charges," Himeno said triumphantly as the shadow disintegrated, its evil plan foiled. Curses!

A roaring flame shot over her head as Goh reappeared, scowling darkly and looking around. "Where is she? Where'd she go?"

"GOH!!" Kei screamed, leaning out the now-open window of Kouri's room. "YOU SET THE BEDSPREAD ON FIRE!"

"SHIMATTA!!"

Hajime and Mannen quickly got to work dousing the flames…while Kouri, miraculously, didn't awaken. Hajime had put it out before the girl was burned, but now she was drenched. Kenjiro was crying loudly, which had set off Samui and Shin, and now Gin-chan woke up and added his noisy barking to the din.

Kei resisted the urge to plug his ears and raised his voice. "EVERYONE, OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!"

With a startled glance at the man who rarely ever yelled, the Knights, Kenjiro, and Samui obeyed, leaving Kei alone with the dampened child.

With a sigh, the Knight quickly fetched a towel and lifted Kouri out of her binding sheets, setting her on his lap and rubbing her dry briskly.

Kouri stirred, sleep blue-gray eyes meeting golden ones. Instantly recognizing who they belonged to, she stiffened. "K-Kei-san!"

Kei slowly raised both eyebrows, vigorously rubbing the towel over her hair. "So, after all this excitement, you wake up because I towel you off."

The girl pondered this for a moment. "…Why am I wet?"

With a sigh, the golden-skinned man set about explaining all that had transpired, while Kouri's eyes slowly grew wider…and wider…and wider yet.

"…So…" She said slowly, trying to piece it all together. "An evil lady tried to make me her puppet, and Goh-san saved me, but set my bed on fire, but then Mannen and Hajime put it out, and you made everyone go away?"

Kei nodded. She had the basic grasp of it, as silly as it sounded. And speaking of Goh…

"Kouri!" Goh poked his head through the doorway, grinning sheepishly as he held out a tray laden with a bowl of steaming soup and a bottle of pink liquid. "I've got your soup and your medicine here!"

Kouri perked up at the mention of soup, but scowled when she saw the medicine. "Aww, that stuff's disgusting, Goh-san! Do I have to drink it??"

"If you don't, you'll never get better, and you'll keep dreaming about dancing macaroni," the Knight told her solemnly.

At this horrible thought, the ten-year-old quickly grabbed the bowl and a spoon, shoveled the soup into her mouth, and then took the cup Goh had poured for her and downed the thick pink stuff with the rapidness Himeno possessed when she was late for school. It didn't prevent her from making a scrunched-up grimace, but at least she'd taken it.

"All right, good job!" Goh patted her on the head, gave Kei a wink and departed. They regarded each other steadily, before Kouri heaved a sigh and dropped her head wearily.

"Gomen nasai, Kei-san…I-I honestly didn't mean to throw up on you, and Mannen told me you hate kids, and I wasn't trying to, honest, I was just--"

"The reason," Kei interceded smoothly, before she could continue her babbled stream of apologies, "that I don't like children is that they do things without thinking first and they complain and cause mischief to those watching them. You, however, intended no mischief towards me. You were simply feeling ill and I happened to be in the wrong place when you couldn't control your body's reaction anymore. I forgive you, but if you ever vomit on me again when you AREN'T feeling unwell, I shall be most displeased. Now…" He reached for a book lying on its side on a shelf above the bed. "If you promise not to tell anyone, how about a story…?"

Kouri met his eyes then and read understanding there. Kei had been a child himself once, after all. A slow smile crossed her face and she nodded.

"Hai. That sounds nice."

**_---Around 4 o'clock…---_**

"She took her medicine an hour ago," Goh remarked, glancing up at the ceiling as Shin napped beside him on the couch. "And Kei hasn't come down yet…do you think something's wrong?"

Himeno raised a hand to her chin, rubbing it in thought. "I don't know," she answered. "But it wouldn't hurt to check."

Well, once she said that, everyone not asleep (namely, Hayate, Goh, Mannen, and Hajime) wanted to come as well. So the group crept up the stairs and peered cautiously into the room, to find the one sight they'd least expected to see.

Kei was still sitting on the side of the bed, typing one-handed on his laptop. The other hand rested on the head of a sleeping Kouri, who had her head on his lap and her feet propped on her pillow, hands tucked under her cheek. A book laid half-open on the Knight's other side and he glanced up at the others, seeming almost guilty.

"Her fever went down, but she fell asleep on me, and moving her might wake her up again, and I didn't want to be bothered by her complaining…THIS is why children annoy me!"

No one believed him for a second.

**---OOC---**

Hoo. Well, it's my bedtime here and I have school tomorrow, so for…whoever actually reads this story, I hope you're happy. -laughs- No, I'm kidding. I love this story to death and I really wanted to work on it. So here you go, and please review!

Next chapter…**Kouri and the Leafe Knights Put on a Play!**

_"Hello…I am Hayate, Leafe Knight of Wind, and I love Himeno, the Pretear! But we may die today before I can tell her how I feel! Of course, I don't know WHAT she'd want with me, since MANNEN is so much cooler than I am! In fact, he's my hero! I want to be just like him--"_

_Kouri rolled her eyes, as Kei shot him a glare, mouthing, "THOSE AREN'T YOUR LINES."_

_Himeno, meanwhile, was laughing her head off._

Thank you.


	4. Kouri Puts on a Play

Sorry, everyone! I was on a Naruto kick and so I had to get some fics up in that section before I got back to Pretear. But now I'm back! No, Mai-chan, you don't want to know about the dancing macaroni…neither does Bara-chan. **Leo of the stars**…that's so sweet! I'm updating now...I know it's late, though! Sorry! And still thanks to Chelsie, **Soyokaze**, and **Kirakayano **for being my inspirations! Yeah…last chapter, Kouri got sick and that makes us sad! But she's better now, so get ready for a LOT of chaos. And I mean a LOT.

* * *

"Himeno… I…"

"Yes, Hayate?" Crimson eyes met navy blue and the Knight instantly colored.

"… It's nothing."

Safely hidden in a bush, three soft groans were heard. Five pairs of eyes watched the Pretear look confused, then shrug sadly and walk away. Hayate gazed after her, a distant expression on his face before he also left.

"This is just STUPID!" Kouri exploded once the two of them had vanished from sight, falling out of the shrubbery in her ire. "I mean… why didn't he just say it?"

Mannen shot her a "DUH" glare. "Because he's Hayate, stupid."

"That's not a reason, Cotton Ball! And stop calling me stupid!"

"Then stop calling me Cotton Ball!"

Before the two could launch into yet another hour-long argument, Hajime interceded politely. "The point is that Himeno-neechan and Hayate obviously like each other but they won't say anything."

"Then WE should say something!" Kenjiro piped up.

The look Kouri turned upon her brother was one of loving exasperation. "Kenji, it's not that easy. If WE say it, then it doesn't count. Himeno-neechan and Hayate-san have to say it. Not us."

"But what if we MAKE them say it?" The four-year-old persisted.

"How can you possibly _force_--"

"No, he's got a point!" Mannen interrupted excitedly. "If we can somehow make them SEE that they love each other, then of course they'll say it! They just need a little push."

Shin nodded, content to listen for now. But he was slightly confused. "If we push them, won't they fall down?"

"Not _that _kind of push," Kouri assured him. "I think." She stared at Mannen, eyebrows raised. "Right?"

He nodded, running a hand through messy ivory hair. "Look--Hayate KISSED Himeno-neechan when we all thought she was dead and he was crying and stuff… so something must've happened when they were fighting Saihi! If we just REMIND them of that…"

"Then they can tell each other how they feel!" Kouri finished, looking rather amazed. She clapped Mannen on the back. "Good job, Cotton Ball! I take back all the times I've punched you!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

The Knight of Water spoke up pensively. "Why _are _we doing this, by the way?"

Instantaneous silence. Kouri looked at Mannen. Mannen looked at Hajime. Hajime looked at Kenjiro. Kenjiro looked at Shin.

Shin sneezed.

"Good enough," they said in unison and set about making their diabolical plans.

Actually, the true reason was that they were all very bored and this seemed the best way to cause utter mayhem. And maybe see Himeno punch Hayate in the face, like she always did.

Time to get to work.

* * *

"Tell… you everything?" Sasame peered over the rims of his glasses at the very serious purple-haired girl seated across from him in a red plush armchair.

"All of it," Kouri told him, flipping to a fresh page in her notepad and lifting her sharpened pencil. "What happened up there near the top of the Doom Tree?"

"Great Tree of Fenril," Takako corrected.

The child sighed. "It caused a lot of doom and it's easier to say. Now can you tell me what happened?"

Takako and Sasame exchanged glances. They knew she'd be stubborn enough to keep pestering them until they obliged… so they obliged.

"Well, I was fighting with Hayate after he undid the pret with Himeno…"

* * *

The next day, Kei cast the roles. Why Kei? Because Kei was (supposedly) the smartest one of them all and would make the best decisions as to who played what in the reenactment to bring Hayate and Himeno closer together.

However, when he cast Mannen as Hayate and Kouri as Himeno, he met his very first protests.

"Kei-san… you DO know what happens at the end, DON'T YOU?" A pair of steely blue-gray eyes had the poor Knight pinned.

"Yes, I do." Kei remained serenely austere.

"There's no _way _I'm kissing him!" Kouri yelled, jabbing an accusing finger at Mannen, as he shrieked at the exact same time, "There's no _way_ I'm kissing her!"

_They're so alike, it's SCARY,_ Kei thought to himself, suppressing a smile by coughing into his hand. "You want Hayate and Himeno to get together, don't you?"

They nodded sullenly, glaring at each other.

The Knight of Light rubbed his chin, remarkably straight-faced. "Then you'll both have to go through with it. It's the only way."

"Awwww!"

"But…"

Kei ignored their now futile arguments and turned to Goh. From the heated glare he'd felt at the back of his head, he was surprised that he hadn't gone up into flames yet.

"I suppose you're protesting your part as well," he said wryly.

"Trees don't speak." Goh huffed and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"You have lines."

The Knight/waiter thrust the script into his face. "I go 'ROOOOOOARRRGH!' and wave my arms around! That's the crappiest part I've ever heard of!"

"YOU don't have to kiss Kouri," Mannen said morosely.

"It's better than kissing a COTTON BALL," she retaliated.

Glares galore.

"What's an usher do?" Kenjiro asked plaintively, tugging on Kei's pant leg. "Pretty Lady, what do me and Shin do?"

The Knight's eye twitched minutely and he had to take a deep, calming breath before he could reply in a manner best befitting his rank and (collapsing) dignity.

"Ushers, Kenjiro, are the people who escort the audience to their seats."

"Oh, you mean the people who look like penguins?"

A pause. "Yes… those people."

"I have too many lines!" Hajime wailed, just as Kei thought he had successfully avoided another crisis. "How come_ I_ have to be the narrator, anyway?"

"Because you can talk and make sense," Kei snapped. "Honestly, can't you all be a little bit more like Yayoi-san?"

Kouri, Mannen, Shin, Kenjiro, Goh, and Hajime turned to look at Himeno's best friend, who was currently twirling around in raptures of joy.

"Ohhh, this is_ so_ incredibly romantic! The drama! The pain of Himeno being abruptly torn from her lover! The brief bliss of Sasame and Takako's fleeting love! The KISS!"

Mannen tilted his head upwards to smirk at Kei. "CRAZY, you mean?"

"Is she going to be okay?" The smallest Knight inquired, watching the girl concernedly.

"Who knows," Goh muttered, shaking his head. "Let's just get this thing over with."

_**----Much, MUCH later…----**_

The fateful day had arrived and the entire cast was in a flurry, struggling into their costumes, firing off last-minute lines to test memorization and just basically…panicking.

"MANNEN, YOU CAN'T COME IN HERE!" Kouri shrieked, when her costar tried to venture into Mawata's bedroom to see how the costuming was going. "It's bad luck!"

"It IS?"

"It WILL be if you turn that doorknob!"

"I FORGOT MY FIRST LINE!" Hajime was hysterically telling Goh. "What is it?"

"Umm…" The Fire Knight consulted his script, already wrapped up in brown construction paper and sporting tree branches in his hair. "It's… 'Hello'."

Needless to say, things were rather hectic and the play was scheduled to start in less than fifteen minutes. It was being held in the Awayuki yard and most everyone in the neighborhood had been invited: Mayune, Kaoru, Natsue, Mawata, Sasame and Takako, Rika, Samui, and Okesa, many other neighbors, and, of course, Hayate and Himeno (although they had no idea what this was about).

Shin and Kenjiro performed their task flawlessly, cheerfully greeting each guest and guiding them to an unoccupied lawn chair. Natsue had an old platform from her college days, which served as the stage, and the velvet curtains that Kaoru had rigged up were now drawn together, hiding the actors from view.

The crowd chatted amiably, then hushed as the curtains rippled and Hajime shyly stepped onto the stage, dressed in a powder-blue tux and matching bowtie.

"Hello," he greeted the audience, managing a small smile. "My name is Hajime and I'll be your narrator today. Welcome to our production of Love Conquers All."

Hayate got a VERY bad feeling…

The orange-head gestured at the curtains and stepped aside as they parted, revealing Kei, wearing a white wig and Sasame's Dark Knight outfit. Glaring at him (and looking rather embarrassed) was Kouri, who had on the Wind Pretear's costume.

"Undo the Pret, Hayate, or Himeno will get hurt!" Kei said grandly, throwing out his cape with a flourish.

"No!" The little girl protested, wrapping her arms about her body in a defensive posture. "Hayate, don't! We can't beat this pretty-boy without combining our powers!"

Kei decided to ignore the 'pretty-boy' jibe and did his most impressive scowl. "But if _I_ win, your precious Himeno will ALSO die." At a nod from Kouri, he called on his power and the stage lit up with a golden brilliance.

"Hayate, you idiot!" Kouri yelled, unseen in the blinding light. "Get back in here!" A yelp. "W-whoa! SIT, boy! STAY!"

Himeno wondered if that would have worked on Hayate if she'd tried that, while Kei was horrified that Kouri seemed to have forgotten her lines.

Then the light cleared and the audience saw why the child had been yelling like that. For not only was Mannen onstage beside her, but Gin-chan, upon seeing his owner, had broken free of Okesa's hold and bounded on the platform to tackle Kouri.

Mannen stared down at the canine. "Uh…"

Clearly flustered, Kouri nevertheless did her best to recover the flow of the play. "You're a brave dog," she solemnly informed Gin-chan, "but even you cannot withstand the awesome power of the doom tr--I mean… the Great Tree of Fenril. Please return to your family."

The dog understood the word "return" well enough, and obediently trotted off the stage to uncertain applause from the puzzled and amused audience.

Mannen cleared his throat and Kouri gave a little jump of surprise, whirling around to face him. "Oh, Hayate!" she dramatically declared. "If only you had stayed within my chest!"

Hayate suddenly choked and turned beet-red, while Himeno slowly began to twitch in her seat beside him.

"What, and let Sasame hurt you? I'm not that much of a stuffy, arrogant, inconsiderate, annoying, stupid--"

Kei coughed into his hand.

"… Knight of Wind," Mannen finished hastily.

His acting partner resisted the urge to sigh and instead glanced off to the side, lowering her eyes. "But… I worry about you, Hayate, even if I don't always show it. Please be careful."

"Of course!" The Ice Knight struck a ridiculous pose and turned to the audience with a big, fake smile plastered on his face. "Hello! I am Hayate, Leafe Knight of Wind, and I love Himeno, the Pretear! But we may die today before I can tell her how I feel! Of course, I don't know WHAT she'd want with me, since MANNEN is so much cooler than I am! In fact, he's my hero! I want to be just like him--"

Kouri may have won the fight against the sigh, but she couldn't win this one, so she gave in and rolled her eyes. Kei shot the boy a glare, mouthing, "THOSE AREN'T YOUR LINES."

Himeno, meanwhile, was laughing her head off.

* * *

The rest of the play ran relatively smoothly (although Mannen kept loudly endorsing himself as the true hero and Yayoi, in her role as Takako, launched into a full speech about love and pain and French bullfighters while Kei kept trying to insert his lines to make the whole thing make sense). Goh made an excellent tree, roaring out his lines so fiercely that several children in the audience burst into tears and Kouri kept to her part nicely, playing the role of Himeno with perfect determination and aplomb.

Unfortunately, there was one scene in which the biggest struggle of all commenced. That was the final scene: the "Kiss of Life". And the two young stars were having problems going through with it.

Kouri was nestled comfortably in a bed of flowers in her last costume change, the dress of the White Pretear. Her hands were folded on her chest and her eyes were closed, although there was a definite grimace on her face instead of the peaceful expression that should have been there (as Kei had sternly instructed). Mannen fell to his knees as Yayoi wept convincingly into her palms and Kei kept a bracing hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, Himeno! Please, I beg of you, open your eyes or I will be a sad man forever and I'll go bald and most likely start liking other men to honor your memory!"

"Oh, is that how it was going to be?" Himeno teased her navy-haired companion, who grumbled an unintelligible answer and vowed to make Mannen pay dearly for his inaccurate portrayal and his snide side-comments.

"If there is a miracle called love…" The white-haired Knight said softly, as the audience sighed and giggled to themselves in anticipation. He leaned down, gazing at Kouri's face, now flushed with embarrassment, and gulped audibly.

_It's all for Himeno-neechan!_ He told himself, trying to muster up the gumption to continue. _So she can be happy with Hayate! And it's just Kouri…it's not like she's CUTE or anything…_

And then he made the mistake of looking down.

With her face and body framed by petals of white, pink, blue, red, and yellow and the blush on her cheeks, his friend looked… somewhat winsome. And, he added to admit it, cute as well.

_It's just Kouri,_ his mind repeated. _Just Kouri…_

"_Kouri_…" Mannen echoed, not realizing that he had spoken aloud as he bent down to kiss her…

…And collided foreheads with her as she sat up quickly, having been caught off guard by her name.

"Owwww!" They shrieked simultaneously, clutching their heads and wincing.

The audience started to laugh, and Kouri shook herself out of her pained stupor. "Your kiss has awakened me!" She muttered, glaring at Mannen through narrowed blue-gray eyes. "I love you, Hayate! Let us grow old and ugly together!"

"Of course, my _dearest _darling," the boy snarled, returning her glare with a defiant smirk.

"And they all lived happily ever after, the end!" Hajime blurted out, desperate to end this before "Himeno" and "Hayate" slaughtered each other.

Kei smoothly maneuvered himself into a position between the two ten-year-olds to avoid further conflicts, and instructed them (with a fixed-on smile) to bow as the audience gave the cast a standing ovation.

* * *

"Interesting play, wasn't it?" Himeno remarked, as she and Hayate walked away from the stage and headed for the fountain.

"Interesting?" He said disbelievingly. "Are you kidding? I've never been so embarrassed in my life! Not only did Mannen make me out to be a stubborn bastard, he also had to go and quote me direc--"

Suddenly realizing what he had been about to admit, he stopped himself and the deep red flush reappeared on his face and neck.

Himeno turned the color of her hair. "H… Hayate?"

"I-it's nothing…" He stammered, turning away so she couldn't see his reddened face.

However, five VERY frustrated children were not about to let him get off scot-free.

"We didn't go through that so he could run away!" Kouri whispered fiercely from behind a bush. "Get 'im, Hajime!"

"AND THEN THEY KISSED, BECAUSE THEY LOVED EACH OTHER!" Hajime obediently screamed as loudly as he could.

"What the--" Himeno whirled around to see Shin, Kenjiro, Kouri, Hajime, and Mannen sprinting away in fits of laughter. She would have started after them… if Hayate hadn't chosen that minute to finally give in to his emotions and swept her into his arms, kissing her soundly.

"If we'd only known it would be that easy…!" Goh groaned, still disgustedly plucking stray leaves from his hair. "We wouldn't have had to go through all that crap."

Hajime shrugged, not bothered in the slightest. "I liked it. It was fun."

"Why did you say my name, anyway?" Kouri demanded, rounding on Mannen (who had been hoping that she'd miraculously forgotten his accidental slip-up). "I thought something was wrong, so I sat up!"

"I was saying your name because you looked like you were gonna throw up!" He shot back.

"I was not!"

"You were too!"

"Ah…" Takako regarded them, smiling. "Young love…"

"NO, IT'S NOT!" The children paused in their bickering long enough to scream at her before they resumed their pointless argument.

"Yes, it is!" Yayoi seconded firmly. "But, woe! Someday, a man bearing the mark of a star on his left thigh will appear, riding a giant eagle and he will sweep Kouri away into his big, brawny arms and they will fly away together and raise lots of little babies under the sea!"

Everyone sighed, except for Shin, who pointed out, "But birds and people can't breathe underwater."

And thus concluded the Great Plan.

**---OOC---**

I'm so sorry that this took so long! And please forgive me for OOC Hayate...Above all, I'd like to thank Soyokaze for finishing her wonderful Pretear fic and inspiring me to update mine! There's one more chapter next! Please review and thank you all for being so patient with me!

Next Chapter… **Kouri Gets in a Fight:**

_"No more," Goh said angrily, gesturing to the quiet child seated on the couch with Mannen's hand still placed on her swelling eye. "This can't go on anymore! Kouri, we're not giving you back!"_

_Kouri peered at him through one reddened, tear-blotched eye. "Goh-san, you can't…"_

_"It has to stop," Mannen suddenly put in. "And it's going to. No one's going to hurt you anymore."_

Muahahaha! XD Confused yet?


End file.
